Welcome to the Gardner household!
by mkc120
Summary: "Hi, Mr. Gardner!" I greeted enthusiastically in spite of my fear. I held out my slightly sweaty palm but Katie's dad just grunted and nearly slammed the door in my face.
1. Travis I

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**Disclaimer: I'm not a man. Rick Riordan is, though. But not me.**

My life is ruined.

Let's see. How in the world did this happen? I mean, I'm freaking _Travis Stoll!_ I'm awesome, the best pranker in history, King of Camp Half-Blood- okay, maybe that's Percy being the savior of Olympus of all- and I'm dating Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter.

But Katie is exactly my problem.

Okay, not Katie _per say_, but Katie's father.

I was with Connor and we were planning a prank on the Apollo cabin when Katie came to my cabin to deliver the _splendid _news. Sarcasm noted.

* * *

"We should use pink," I said.

Connor thought about it. "But some of the Apollo kids like pink," he argued. "We should do orange. Orange always rocks."

"No green rocks. It's so awesome; it can punch your face while it's asleep!"

"How the hell is that possible? The color green can't punch one's face!"

I smirked. "Oh, but it _can._ It's _that_ awesome."

"When you guys finish this idiotic argument, tell me to come back, okay?" Katie's exasperated voice interrupted.

"Hey Katie-Kat," I said.

Normally, Katie would've gotten angry. But not today. For some reason, Katie looked sort of . . . weak and nervous. Whatever. Katie is strong; she can handle it herself.

But then I remembered my conversation with Piper, a daughter of Aphrodite. The least girlish daughter of Aphrodite in history, in fact. She told me I should treat my girlfriends better and when they look upset or whatever, I should ask what's wrong.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sighing.

"I have a dad . . ." Katie began.

My eyebrows shot up and Connor muttered, "Really? You have a dad?" under his breath.

Katie glared at us. She should really stop doing that because I heard some daughters of Aphrodite saying that it causes wrinkles.

Ugh, I really should stop hanging out with those girls. I think they've gotten to me.

Katie continued glaring. "Yes, Connor, I have a dad." She plunked herself onto my bed. "My father wants you to stay with us during Christmas, Travis."

I laughed at her. "That's all? That's no problem! "

Katie glared again. "Your 'charm' isn't going to get you anywhere."

And I laughed at her again. That's what our relationship mostly consists of. She glares, I laugh. "You think I need my charm to be charming? Who's in your family?"

Katie furrowed her brow in concentration. "There's my dad, Rachelle, my stepmom, Chloe and Tori- they're twins- Mandy my half-sister and Brady my step-brother."

I smirked. Our relationship consisted with a lot of smirking, too. "Easy. I don't know what you were worried about."

"Oh yeah?" Katie challenged. "My father is the reason all of my relationships ended, Rachelle is super nice when my dad's around but as soon as he's gone, so is her nice side, Tori is the evil version of Chloe, and a lot like Drew, Mandy likes pooping everywhere and Brady is only thirteen but quite protective. Oh, and I forgot Cerberus, our cat that enjoys hissing at people."

I was dumbfounded. "You named your cat Cerberus?"

Katie threw her hands up, clearly frustrated. "Why does it matter?"

I threw up my hands. "Everything matters, Katie-Kat!"

"Oh, I know." Katie smirked knowingly. "Your bravado is waning and you're really afraid."

I was going to argue, but why fight it? "Yeah."

Connor watched us intently. Then, being the great brother he is, he opened his stupid mouth and shouted triumphantly. "This is a double win situation! Travis, you owe me twenty drachmas! I told you I would be in charge of the cabin for at least a day in the next year!"

And that's how a perfectly good life crumbled and died.

**This chapter is just to kick-start things. Review, please! Pretty please with sprinkles on top! Five reviews and I'll post the next chapter, kay?**

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**-mkc120**


	2. Travis II

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While I packed, Connor watched me from his bed.

"I'd feel bad for you if you had given me the right Christmas present." Connor grouched.

I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's not my fault that the store ran out of lime coke."

"Oh, I know. That's why I've mostly forgiven you. But you still could have made it up by . . . getting me Diablo 3 or something like that." Connor muttered.

"Dude, how was I supposed to know that? And maybe, if you had let me borrow that stack of mortal money, maybe I could have afforded it!" I shouted in frustration.

Connor was evidently frustrated, too. "First of all, I gave you 'The Connor Guide' three years ago. I spent a lot of work on that, you know. And second of all, you wouldn't have returned the money!"

"Of course, I wouldn't have. I'm a son of Hermes! Also, I hope you would like to know that 'The Connor Guide' had met the landfill a long time ago." I replied angrily.

Connor gasped. "May the Connor Spirit haunt you forever."

"Seriously, dude? The Connor Spirit?"

"Respect the Spirit!" he screeched.

I simply rolled my eyes and zipped up my blue duffel bag.

* * *

"Ready?" Katie asked as we approached Half-Blood Hill.

I fidgeted with the zipper on my duffel. "Are you sure your father was the reason why _all_ your relationships went wrong? I mean, there's got to be at least _one _survivor . . . right?"

"Not even one," Katie said, popping a bubble- that a little girl blew from the Aphrodite cabin- with her finger.

Chiron sauntered over to us. "Argus is ready, children. Make sure you have your weapons at all times and don't do anything reckless." The last part was directed at me.

I saluted. "Yes sir."

Argus- in a chauffeur suit- waved us over from the camp's beat-up blue van. After saying bye to our siblings and Chiron, we got into the car that would lead me to my death.

Katie's family lived in a farm in a small town in New Jersey so the car ride wasn't too long. Only about an hour and a half.

Emotionally, five hours had gone past. Physically, half an hour had passed. However, I couldn't help but lean forward slightly and ask.

"Are we there yet?"

Argus simply shook his head. I think Rumor has it that Argus doesn't like talking because his tongue is covered in eyeballs just like the rest of him.

Katie gaped at me with her beautiful leaf-green eyes. "You're asking that question _already."_

I clucked my tongue. "Yes, Katie-Kat. Already."

The rest of car ride was silent. A few years later, Argus pulled out the key from the ignition.

"We're here," Katie finalized.

I sighed in relief. "Thank gods. I thought I was going to turn _eighty _before we arrived."

Argus didn't take any offence at this. He took all our luggage and waved before he left.

Katie and I each took a deep breath and started to walk our way to her house.

* * *

Katie's family lived in a nice little house. It was decorated with flowers. Lilies, violets, roses . . . and those are the only flowers I know.

The house had a special air around. It was full of mini streams and looked all nature-y. I kept on speculating the house.

Katie was already halfway towards the house. She turned around. "Oh come on, Travis. Stop stalling because I know you don't normally give a care in the world about what houses look like."

I glumly followed her. My palms got sweaty. What if Mr. Gardner doesn't like me?

_Whatever. _A voice inside said. _You're Travis Stoll! Ditch those nerves and be charming! That's how you win people over, remember?_

We arrived at the front door and Katie rang the doorbell. I stared at a pudgy garden gnome.

A man with the same wheat- colored hair as Katie opened the door. He looked about in his late forties.

"Katie?" he whispered, as if he didn't believe it was her.

"Hey, dad!" She said, leaning forward to hug him. "This is Travis Stoll, my boyfriend," She introduced, gesturing to me.

"Hi, Mr. Gardner! So nice to meet you!" I greeted enthusiastically in spite of my fear.

I held out my sweaty palm but Katie's dad just muttered the words "Overly perky mess," and nearly slammed the door in my face.

Gee, I feel so welcome here.

**Okay! That's the end of Chapter Two!**

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**-mkc120**


	3. Travis III

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I walked into the house after that nice little welcome. The inside and outside of her house have one thing in common: flowers are _everywhere._ Flower pots, flower baskets, stray flowers, and lots of vases filled with flowers.

I pointed to some purple flowers on a book shelf. "What are those, Mr. Gardner?"

He turned to look at me. "You don't know what type of flower that is?"

Katie rushed to help. "They're lavenders, Travis. Smell them; they smell really good."

I leaned in to sniff. But just then, a toddler came racing through and pushed me out of the way. I stumbled and the vase of lavenders fell off the shelf. Before it could break, I caught it.

Horror of what just happened washed through me. Katie's face was filled with terror like a scared bunny.

"I am _so _sorry, Mr. Gardner. I didn't mean to do it." I apologized nervously.

Katie's father's face turned a weird shade of purple and red mixed together. "You idiot!" he roared. "How dare you come to my house and knock over my flowers?"

"I'm s-sorry. But I-I swear, it wasn't my f-fault," I stammered.

"Oh yeah? Sorry my-" Katie's dad let out a string of profanity. I think I just learned about twenty new swear words.

"_Dad_," Katie said. "He didn't do it on purpose. Mandy pushed him and he still caught it, didn`t he? "

Mr. Gardner looked like he wanted to scream at me more but simply grumbled and stomped out of the room.

Katie sighed. "Travis, you need to be more careful around my dad."

Oh, not her too. Why was the universe so against me these days? "I caught it!" I threw up my hands.

She sighed again and a boy in his early teens marched over. He had spiky brown-blond hair and a light, faded green like jade color for eyes. He came up to me and held out his hand.

"My name is Brady Gardner. I assume you're the Travis Stoll that's dating my older sister Katie?"

We shook hands. "Yep, I'm dating Katie."

Brady nodded. "Hey, Katie, Mom wants to see you."

Katie groaned and left.

Brady and I watched Katie leave the front door and into what I assume is the kitchen because a sign points into the room and says EAT AND COOK HERE.

I was about to leave when, suddenly, Brady pounced onto me.

"What the hell?" I asked through a mouthful of Brady's flower scented light blue shirt.

Brady glared at me with his jade-green eyes. "If you hurt Katie, I'll hurt you, got that?"

I know I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn't help but laugh. "You? Hurt me? Yeah, right! Dude, you do realize that I'm three years older than you and I have training almost every day? Besides, if I hurt Katie, she'd probably hurt me even more!"

Brady got up. "Whatever." And with that, he left the room.

Wow, Katie wasn't being dramatic when she said her family was bad.

* * *

Katie lived in a small town at the corner of Utah called Whenvale. And when I say small, I mean _small._

So you can sense my surprise that there was a prank store.

I entered the store and looked around. All sorts of goodies were in oddly colored drawers and the store was dimly lit, mostly shining on the things hanging on the lemon-yellow walls. I was the only one in the store, which I found odd, because who wouldn't want this stuff?

"Hi!" An overly-perky cashier greeted me when I came in. "May I help you?"

I shook my head and turned to look at the whoopee cushions.

Before dinner, I decided that I would go to the local prank/ joke store. I needed to stock up anyways and I was going to write down the price of everything I buy so I can charge Connor five bucks more than I paid for.

I inspected the whoopee cushions carefully. I always made sure to check that the material isn't cheap. Sure, it requires brains and time, but it's worth it.

_Cool! _I thought when something shiny caught my eye.

Video cameras. Perfect item to spy on people with. Connor's definitely going to love this! Night vision, films up to one hundred hours of footage and hi-def.

One thousand bucks. Hmm . . . well, it would seem unusual if something costs a thousand and _five _bucks, so I guess I'll have to charge Connor a thousand and five hundred, plus tax.

Miss Perky noticed me looking at the cams.

"Those are the video cameras. They're just absolutely _perfect _to spy on demigods, don't you think?" She asked with an evil glint in her eye.

Every instinct in my body told me to run like hell. If I don't run fast enough, then I can fight.

_Crap. _I realized. _I left my sword at Katie's house! Stupid Travis!_

The girl's red hair turned into fire. She grinned at me cruelly and I realized she no longer had teeth; instead, fangs had taken its place. She jumped on to the table and I saw that one of her legs looked like it was made out of tin and the other looked like a horse's leg. But I knew it was a donkey leg because Percy told me about Kelli, and I'll tell you that I never really wanted to meet _any _empousai.

"Such a nice, fresh demigod." She laughed. "I will savor every drop of your blood."

"Oh, really?" I said. "What are you?"

She snarled. "An empousai, you idiotic demigod. Didn't Percy Jackson tell you about me?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't think he did."

"Well, he must have thought he banished me forever, but I reformed quickly. My name's Kelli." Her eyes looked like they were in another place.

I gulped. This was the exact monster Percy had fought before and barely made it out alive. Percy was a _lot _better than me in combat and I don't have any weapons.

Thankfully, Kelli didn't seem to notice any fear in his eyes.

"Percy says he kind of regrets not letting you kill him, you know."

Her gaze snapped back to me. "I'm not that stupid."

I shook my head. "No, really. I'm telling the truth."

She cocked her head to the side. "How do you know?"

Mercifully, after all those years of lying, stealing, cheating and doing pranks, the Stoll brothers excelled in those activities. It was their area of expertise.

I merely shrugged. "I manipulated the Mist to get him talking and then I made sure he remembered nothing of it." I lied.

"It's actually quite a shame I have to kill you now. You seem like a fine person." She smiled ruefully. "And that was ingenious! Using the Mist on Percy Jackson? Fabulous!

Good thing I was good at acting. I ducked my head and blushed furiously. "It was nothing." I mumbled.

"You really are making me re-think the decision to kill you."

I smiled. "Then don't kill me. Look at the bigger picture." I walked next to her said, "Imagine. I'd be way better than Luke and I know a secret passage into Camp Half-Blood. The gods are filthy people and I have no interest in worshipping them anymore." I tried to convey every single tone of disgust in my voice.

"How?" Kelli asked.

My plan was working! Kelli bought it and was intrigued.

I shrugged. "I'm a son of Hermes."

"Well, let's get going right away!" Kelli shouted enthusiastically.

I shook my head. "I need to go to the washrooms first." I lied again.

Nervousness churned in my stomach and I felt cold yet sweaty. Was that even possible? How could you be cold _and _sweaty?

_You're over-thinking this, Travis. _I told myself sternly.

Kelli glared at me suspiciously. I shrank a little under her scrutiny, afraid that she might catch me.

"Fine." She told me. "But if this is an attempt to escape, your efforts will be futile. Trust me, I'll be sure. I'll be outside your door."

I nodded like the good boy I am (not) and followed her to the washroom.

If you could really call it that.

What Kelli led me into could hardly be called a washroom. More like a closet with a bucket in the corner and a hose.

"This- this is the washroom?" I asked, gulping.

She smiled evilly. "Of course. What else would it be, pretty boy?"

I shook my head. "Never mind."

I shut the door and leaned against one of the walls.

Task one: Stall so I can have more time to think- check.

Now what?

_Please,_ I begged the gods. _I need help!_

My prayer was met with silence.

_Look, I'm sorry about what I said. It was to save my life!_

_You boy! _Demeter's voice sounded in my head. _How dare you talk about the gods like that!_

_Well, if I die, Katie would be pretty upset, wouldn't she?_

Demeter grumbled something unintelligible. _At least I don't hear voices in my head like a crazy old nut._

_Demeter! _I heard Hermes, my father shout and I winced at the level of noise as all the gods were taking sides _in my head _and did _not_ know how to control their volume.

_Sorry, son. _Hermes laughed.

_It's okay._ I replied. _Just help me._

A nice tinkling laugh sounded in my head. _Sorry, dear. Forbidden. _I heard the unforgettable voice of Aphrodite laugh.

_Gods, why is _everything _forbidden? _I whined.

The gods all laughed raucously and disappeared from my head.

Someone started to pound on the door loudly. "Hey, demigod! You better not be taking a dump!"

I suppressed the urge to laugh. "Sorry!" I called. "I'm just hesitating because- well, I don't normally pee in buckets."

I am so good at this lying thing.

"Spoiled brat!" Kelli teased.

I relaxed just a smidgen. At least we were on friendly terms.

Suddenly, I tripped over my own shoe laces and bumped into the wall. _Ouch. _That was going to bruise tomorrow.

Then, an idea hit me. It was a slim chance but I'd take anything at this point.

I pushed the dingy door open. "I'm done, Kelli."

Kelli rolled her eyes. "You took so long. You're such a girl."

We started to walk back into the main area and I looked around.

"Wait." I told Kelli.

"Wait for what?" She asked. "I'm not going to stay much longer. Either you cooperate and leave or I kill you."

I nodded."But I just want to take some video cameras."

"Fine! Take whatever you want."

I smiled and walked up to the aisle with the video cams.

See, I vaguely remember that when I tripped, coming up the aisle, I saw a Celestial Bronze dagger. I'm not quite sure how it got there, but I assume I'm not Kelli's first victim here.

I picked it up and I slipped it in my back pocket. Then, I took some video cameras and other stuff. I'll just charge Connor a random price.

I walked up to Kelli. "Okay, I'm ready."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's go. I'm thirsty and I would drink from you but you've promised to be my partner so I can't exactly kill you . . . unfortunately. I imagine you would be tasty."

Uh . . . nice to know how tasty I would be. I appreciate the compliments- sarcasm noted.

Her eyes traveled to my neck. "I could find another demigod, though . . ." She trailed off, her crimson red eyes were full of blood-lust. "Yes, yes."

Now's the time, Travis!

I pulled out the dagger in one deft motion and lunged. Kelli simply side stepped.

"How dare you!" She snarled, her face contorting into something ugly.

I didn't answer, simply focusing on the battle. I got a scratch on her but she singed my arm with fire.

"Shoot." I muttered when she kicked my leg swiftly.

She smiled in an evil type of way. "I will drink your fresh blood!"

I jumped onto her back and avoided her flaming hair- I didn't want to burn myself. It was a risky move but proved itself useful when I finally stuck the Celestial Bronze in her chest.

She snarled in agony and anger and dissolved into yellow monster dust. I disgustedly shook it off of me and appraised the mess.

Racks were knocked over and everything on shelves had ended up on the ground. Part of the floor was singed and monster dust was covering about half the store- not that the store was very big.

I shrugged, took my things and ran out of there as fast as I could. I didn't even stop once on my return to Katie's house.

**So, that's chapter three! I know it's not that good- just a filler- but it's definitely longer and now my story has a dose of demigod battle- the way every PJatO story should have.**

**I hope you enjoyed it! And no review requirement for this chapter- I'm feeling nice today. But I still appreciate reviews and wouldn't mind if you guys added me to your subscribe lists! **

**-mkc120**


	4. Katie IV

**I felt like you guys deserved another chapter so I wrote one up!**

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**BTW: I know that the Stolls don't have blond hair but that's how I imagined them, alright? Blond hair, bright blue eyes. This _is _my story, after all. So I should get to decide what the characters look like.**

**Disclaimer: I, mkc120, swear on the river of Styx that I am not Rick Riordan.**

**Enjoy!**

"Where is that idiot boyfriend of yours?" Dad asked rudely.

I sighed and poked the piece of chicken with my fork. "I don't know, Dad. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

My siblings watched the exchange quietly. Brady scraped his plate with his fork.

Dad snorted. "He's probably out partying or something."

Just then, the doorbell rang about a hundred times. Whoever was at the door was frantic. Dad groaned and got up from his chair to greet the mysterious doorbell-ringer. The whole family scampered after him.

"What?" he asked loudly.

My boyfriend stood at the door, looking like a scared baby. "H-hey, Mr. Gardner. M-may I come in?"

Dad pretended to think. "Nah." He finally said.

He tried to slam the door shut but Travis stuck his foot in the doorway. He winced as the door hit his foot.

"Please, Mr. Gardner," he begged. "Please let me talk."

For a while, it was excruciatingly silent. Tension grew and the doorway of my home started to feel rather small and stuffy.

"Joe," Rachelle, my step-mom spoke softly. "Maybe you should let him-"

"Fine," my dad grumbled. He glared at Travis. "You better make it quick- you interrupted my dinner and I'm hungry."

A small, relieved smile climbed onto Travis' face. "T-thank you so much! I pro-"

"Get on with it!" Dad snapped. His hazel eyes glowed with anger. He clenched and unclenched his fists, as if he was resisting a great urge to punch Travis' face.

I was quite angry too. Now that I knew Travis was safe and not attacked by some hellhound or something, I wondered what he was doing. He had promised that he would be here at dinner time! I didn't want to be some clingy girlfriend, but I'm allowed to be angry at him for disappearing, right?

"Okay," Travis started, running a hand through his blond hair. "So, it was just a regular day, and I was off to the local joke store. I brought lots of money. Like, tons. I could probably buy a cow with that money! But I don't know why I would _need _a cow. But cows are cool! I mean-"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Travis,"

"Right, right." Travis laughed uneasily. "Stupid ADHD. Anyways, where was I again? Oh right- so I was at the joke store when I saw Kelli!"

Relief coursed through my veins. So Travis _wasn't _at some party or something. An empousai had just attacked him and that's all.

I pulled my light brown hair into a ponytail as I picked up a bag of ambrosia from the nearby closet. While I closed the closet door, I heard Dad speak.

"_Kelli? _Who's Kelli? Are you cheating on my daughter?" Dad asked incredulously.

Brady started to quiver. "What?"

Chloe shot me a look of sympathy and Tori laughed mockingly. Cerberus meowed and rubbed herself against Chloe's leg.

"What? N-no!" Travis exclaimed while I laughed.

"Dad," I started to explain. "Kelli is an empousai."

Travis smiled at me in relief. "_Yes. _I'm glad you know. ANYWAYS, she attacked me and then I killed her! Not that it was entirely unexpected. I mean, I'm _such _an awesome sword-fighter."

Dad started to shuffle out of the doorway and into the kitchen. "Awesome my butt." He muttered.

That was a cue for the rest of the family to leave. We all filed into the kitchen, Travis pulling off his black coat and shutting the door. He sat down in a wooden chair next to me and we all started eating again.

**Okay, I know this was a bad chapter. I know it is. IN FACT, this chapter sucks.**

**But please forgive me! I promise during this winter break that I will update! (The plot thickens in the next chapter.)**

**Merry Christmas everyone! One more sleep to go!**

**-mkc120**


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